I scrubbed the mixing bowls; she folded dish towels.

For a while we talked about nothing more serious than how difficult it was to remove hardened frosting from a metal whisk.

Then she said, “When Brittany asked me to make the cake, she held up a picture of an old-fashioned sugar rose.

I told her it was more work than it looked.

She said she’d always dreamed of a cake covered with them.”

Grandma placed a towel down carefully.